When a Home isn't a Home
by SP-in-Sirius-Denial
Summary: Sirius's parent have had enough of his mingling with mudbloods. They have a plan for him, but Sirius won't except this. He finds comfort in his best friend and starts a new and improved life.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own some of the idea, and maybe a few characters, maybe not. Most of it's from the wonderful JKR who broke my little heart in her recent book OOTP...I'll never get over that one...J/K I already did  
  
I hope you enjoy this fic. It so far isn't the way I wanted it, but I think it's an okay attempt. Enjoy!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was a cold rainy night. Water pounded the sidewalks, and made a brilliantly loud patter on the lids of the garbage cans that lined the streets. Sirius Black now sat between two of those garbage cans with a discarded muggle newspaper covering his head. It didn't make a large difference, but every bit counted.  
  
For most kids summer holiday is the best time of the year, even from Hogwarts. For Sirius, however, it was absolutely dreadful. From the first time Sirius Black spoke his first sentence, his family knew he was different. They figured it was something that they could eventually brainwash out of him, but they never could. Sirius was too nice. He would help anything from a dog with a broken leg to a moth with a bent wing.  
  
They finally knew it was too late when Sirius went for his first year at Hogwarts. Much to their utter embarrassment, Sirius had been put in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw would have been acceptable, though slightly disappointing, but Gryffindor was just going to far. The house wasn't the half of it, however. When Sirius came home after his first summer he spoke of nothing more than how wonderful his new friends were. When they asked who, he told them primarily of one James Potter. The Black family once had close ties with the Potters, until the generation came when the main stream of Potter's began marrying muggles and half- bloods. To the Blacks this was simply unacceptable.  
  
Every day that they saw Sirius they tried to make him change, and when they saw that it failed they complained about what a disappointment he was. Their dream was to have produced a son who was an absolute clone of there first, Regulus.  
  
Regulus had been put in Slytherin. He socialized with only the purest of blood and believed in the abolition of any witches and wizards with less than three quarters of magical blood.  
  
Sirius, however, couldn't understand how he was better than anyone just because his blood was purer than anyone else. His close friend Remus was a half-blood and was better than he in every subject with the exception of Care of Magical Creatures. For some reason that had always been his strong point. This was probably due to his overly caring nature that his parents despised so much.  
  
He had gotten used to hearing such things about his differences, and he really couldn't care less. He was happy with his outlook on life, and his friends. What he wasn't happy with was his family life, and for this reason he hated summer. That summer in particular was his low point.  
  
It had started like all the rest. He was routinely bantered by Regulus, his cousins, and his friends. His parents routinely told him what a failure he was, and for the most part he wasn't bothered by it. But this summer, they added something new.  
  
This summer, they gave up trying to change him, and simply decided to pretend he didn't exist. Sirius was no longer called to meals. Rather he had to just show up or they'd eat with out him and purposely leave no left- overs. They never included him for family outings, whether it were to some wizarding attraction or to Diagon Alley. When he was in the room they'd keep him out of the conversation and act like there was no one in the seat he occupied.  
  
Sirius was having a harder time dealing with this than he had with the harassment he usually got. At least when his parents spent time telling him what a failure he was they treated him like a person. Now it was hard to tell if he really still existed. He truly felt like he had become an invisible person.  
  
That alone wasn't what caused him to be sitting out in the rain that night. It so happened that that dreadful summer day had been his birthday. He woke that morning to a flock of birds in his room, all bearing brightly wrapped boxes and long messages from his closest friends. He got his usual load of candy and prank supplies but this year got something special as well. From James and Remus he received a photograph of the four Marauders. It was taken after a critical moment in their lives. A moment that stretched the boundaries of their tight friendship. It was taken just after Sirius's three best friends forgave him for making the biggest mistake of his life thus far: Telling Severus Snape how to get inside the Whomping Willow. Never in his life had Sirius felt so bad for any action as he did that night. It wasn't because he had almost caused the death of Snape, but because he almost made his best friend a murderer, and put his other in a life threatening position. That night could have meant the downfall for many people, and it would have been all on his shoulders.  
  
Sirius sat on his bed looking at that picture when the door to his room swung open. He looked up shocked and saw his brother standing in the doorway. "Happy Birthday, dear little brother. What have you got there? Gifts from your Hell-bred friends?"  
  
"You're the only Hell-bread person I know Reg," Sirius said wisely.  
  
Regulus glared. "I just thought I'd tell you that that's about all you'll be getting."  
  
"I expected nothing more, would you like to leave now or do I need to punch you in the face?"  
  
"You...punch me?" Regulus laughed pompously. Sirius scrambled to his feet, still holding the picture he had received and said, "What? You don't think I have the motivation?"  
  
Regulus almost looked scared, but changed the subject before anything like that could happen. "What's this?" he asked snatching up the photo of the smiling boys, alternating giving each other bunny ears. "A picture of you and your trashy friends. You know you should really be ashamed of yourself. After all, we're all ashamed of you." "Does it look like I care?" Sirius asked and made to grab the picture back. Regulus quickly moved it away. "I don't think you should have this little brother, it'll only slow down mother and father's plan even more."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?" He mocked.  
  
"Give me that!"  
  
"I'm sorry Sirius," he said with mock sincerity. "But I think it's going to burn, just like you will one of these days....unless you follow the plan."  
  
"What's this plan?"  
  
"Where's the one place you wish you were right this second?"  
  
"Hogwarts," Sirius said without a second thought.  
  
"Where's the one place you'll never go again? Hint: it's the same answer as before," he said like a game show host, wearing a sadistic smile.  
  
Sirius looked at him piercingly and again reached for the photo. He didn't really know what his brother was talking about, nor did he want to find out.  
  
"Take one more look at your friends, little brother, because you're never seeing them again," he said gleefully and then turned with the picture and drew out his wand. Moments later the photo was on the floor shriveling with the flames.  
  
"I will be seeing them again," Sirius stated firmly, clenching his teeth. He then walked forward and slammed his fist against his brothers nose. He would have drawn his wand as well, but unlike his brother, he hadn't yet come of age.  
  
Regulus was leaning against the wall, holding his nose. Sirius hurriedly pushed him out the door and slammed it shut, locking it and blocking it with his bureau. He knew his brother could still get in if he wanted to, but he also knew that his brother was a very big wimp at heart. He always went with what he thought would be easiest.  
  
Sirius went and sat back on his bed and contemplated what his brother had said. Apparently his family was planning on stopping him from going back to Hogwarts, but why? Having him home year round would only add to their problems not help them. Unless they had some plan for him. Sirius wouldn't put it past his parents to turn him into a human house elf if he ever did anything TOO unacceptable. But he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.  
  
A sick feeling came over Sirius as he thought of the possibilities that the near future could now hold, and none of them looked bright. So Sirius did the only thing he could think of. He packed up all the things he'd need in a small backpack and crawled out the window, planning to never return to the house at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.  
  
He walked the streets of London until night fell. At that point he just decided to stop walking as he was already as wet as can be and had no real destination in mind. So he found himself settled between two very raunchy garbage cans with a soggy newspaper atop his head. It was all Sirius could do not to cry, something he hadn't done since he was eight or nine. He was cold, lonely, and didn't know where to go.  
  
He knew that he would be welcomed at any of his friends homes with open arms, but he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. Thus Sirius decided that, for at least the evening he'd live life on the streets.  
  
Between those two garbage cans he slept until the early rays of sunshine dried up the last traces of rain. He slept as cars began to drive by more frequently. He was finally awoken when a garbage man came by and started making a racket emptying the smelly cans into his truck.  
  
Before driving off the man took one look at Sirius and said, "Go home, kid. It's not worth it."  
  
Sirius watched him drive off down the street and thought to himself, "It is worth it. Anything is worth getting out of there...especially if they're not going to let me go back." He then picked himself up off the street and continued on down the road. All day he walked, taking frequent breaks at parks and buying hotdogs from the vendors there. He knew, however, that he couldn't do it forever. He was already running low on money. His plan, was just to do what he could and worry about what to do after when the time came.  
  
When night fell again, Sirius decided to stay in a park. He found a bench that was rather secluded from the other homeless people and lay down. This night it was clear and warm, but Sirius was just as miserable as he had been the night before. Again he had to fight the urge to cry. His life was miserable, but never had it been as miserable as it was now.  
  
To make matters worse, he couldn't fall asleep that night. He kept hearing sounds that absolutely terrified him and he felt he had to stay completely alert, to be sure no one attacked him. Eventually, however, near one o'clock in the morning, he managed to drift off to sleep.  
  
An hour or so later he was woken by something pushing against his arm. He shot up on the bench and took a defensive stance, looking around wildly. He sighed in relief as he saw who it was. "James."  
  
"Sirius...what the Hell are you doing? Your uncle told me you ran away, I've been really worried."  
  
Sirius didn't say a word, but again felt the urge to break down in tears. "I'm sorry," he whispered.  
  
"What's going on? Why are you sleeping on a park bench?" "Bad summer," Sirius mumbled, leaning back against the bench. James sat next to him.  
  
"Tell me about it," James said, leaning back as well.  
  
Sirius sighed, "First, my family ignored me completely. They didn't see to it that I ate, slept, how I felt...they didn't care at all. Then, yesterday--"  
  
"You're birthday?"  
  
Sirius nodded, "Regulus comes into my room, and for the first time the whole summer, starts talking to me. He burnt the picture that you and Remus gave me and said that I wasn't going back to Hogwarts ever again."  
  
"They couldn't do that."  
  
"James...you know my family. They COULD do that."  
  
"Maybe but why?"  
  
Sirius shrugged. "Just to make me miserable I suppose."  
  
"So you just ran away?" Sirius nodded sadly.  
  
"You could have come to my place."  
  
"I know," Sirius muttered.  
  
"Why didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I didn't want to put you and your family out. I thought I should take care of this one myself."  
  
"And look where that got you...sleeping on a park bench."  
  
"Do you think I'm happy with this?" Sirius snapped.  
  
"Of course not, but you know damn well that we wouldn't be put out by having you stay. My parents have told you every summer since we've met that you were more than welcome to spend your summers at our house. You KNOW that."  
  
Sirius just looked down.  
  
"C'mon man," James said standing up.  
  
Sirius took a deep breath and looked up at James. He stared for a while and then shook his head.  
  
"God, why do you have to be so stubborn?!" He yelled. Then he noticed the filmy look Sirius's eyes were taking on and knew he was about to cry. He knew that it was probably taking every fiber of his being not to completely lose it, so he decided to take another approach.  
  
"Just come to my house and take a shower and get some food, alright. You're starting to smell."  
  
He saw a small smile playing on Sirius's lips and kicked him lightly in the shin.  
  
"Okay," Sirius whispered and stood up.  
  
"Are you okay, Sirius?"  
  
Sirius nodded and together they left the park. James noticed that Sirius kept bringing his hand up to his eyes and wiping them roughly. Sirius was never one to show emotion well.  
  
"How are we getting to your house?" Sirius asked after a while of walking.  
  
"We're going to floo from the Leaky Cauldron. You didn't realize how close you were did you?"  
  
Sirius shook his head. "Do your parent's know you're out here?" James smiled, "You know my parents would never let me wander the streets of London in the middle of the night. I snuck out of course."  
  
"Damn it James!"  
  
"What?" He asked, stopping in his tracks.  
  
"You have the best parents in the world. Why the Hell do you always do stuff to piss them off? Do you realize how lucky you are to have them."  
  
"Yeah, but I'll admit, it's one of those things I can't help but take for granted. And when they realize that I've rescued you from another night of sleeping in a park, they're going to be fine with it. I may get yelled at, but you have to admit, it's worth it."  
  
Sirius just shook his head and wrapped his arms tightly around himself.  
  
The two started walking again. "You don't know how lucky you are, James," Sirius muttered.  
  
James gave him a sympathetic smile, "Yeah I do."  
  
Sirius's lip trembled slightly and he bit it. "It's going to be okay Sirius. You're fine now. You never have to go back to your house. I'll make sure of that." He gave a small nod and again wiped at his eyes. "Lets just go to your house."  
  
"Okay."  
  
As they continued to walk down the street a strong tension grew between them. Sirius's fists were clenched, his knuckles were turning white. Suddenly, without warning he ran up to a trash can and started kicking it with all his might.  
  
"I hate you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and continued to kick it until it was fully folded in half. "I hate you," he whispered this time crumbling to the ground, tears coming down his face.  
  
James let Sirius have his outburst. He didn't really know what to do once Sirius settled on the hard sidewalk, but he just let his instincts take over.  
  
He walked calmly up to Sirius and squatted in front of him. Sirius tried to avoid eye contact, but James forced him to look at him.  
  
"It's okay to hate them. I think you've earned that. But it's time to move on. Wipe them from your mind....forget about them. They can't do anything to you anymore."  
  
Sirius nodded and wiped his face again.  
  
"C'mon buddy." James grabbed his hand and pulled Sirius to his feet.  
  
Sirius walked on with him. He was still crying mildly, but James tried to ignore it. He knew Sirius would prefer it that way.  
  
When they reached the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron they stopped.  
  
"Are you ready to go inside or do you want to...er...dry your eyes first?"  
  
Sirius rolled his sleeve over his hand and was about to blow his nose on it when James grabbed it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a clump of tissues and handed them over.  
  
"Thanks," Sirius mumbled and blew his nose and dried his face.  
  
"Anytime my friend. Let's go."  
  
Sirius followed James inside the Leaky Cauldron and they made their way to the fireplace. James pulled out a leather pouch filled with floo powder and held it towards Sirius. He took a pinch and threw it in the fire. "Potter Place," he called as he stepped into the green flames. In moments he was in the comfort of the Potters living room. He dropped his small bag on the floor and headed for the couch. He sat down on it with a sigh and waited for James, who was taking an unusual amount of time to come through the fireplace. He was actually starting to worry when he heard steps coming down the stairs. He soon saw the pink robe and fuzzy slippers of Mrs. Potter. James looked more like her than he looked like his father. She had her face shape and hair color, but got his brown eyes from his father.  
  
"Sirius! What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm sorry James..."  
  
"Where is James?" she said suspiciously.  
  
"Well he, came and got me, and should be back at any time."  
  
"Sirius, I'm glad you're here, but he shouldn't have done that."  
  
"That's exactly what I told him Mrs. Potter," Sirius said looking down at his feet.  
  
"Are you alright Sirius?"  
  
Sirius shook his head.  
  
She came and sat beside him on the couch. Never in her life had she seen him looking so down. Usually it was all he could do not to try to make someone smile or laugh. Currently it seemed like it was impossible to get him to do either of those things.  
  
"You're a mess, Sirius, what happened?" She asked in a caring tone.  
  
"My parents...and Regulus," Sirius said looking up into her kind face.  
  
"What did they say this time?"  
  
"They didn't say much, until the other day. All summer they didn't say two words to me. It was like I didn't exist."  
  
"What happened the other day?"  
  
"Regulus came into my room, burned the present Remus and James gave me, and told me that my parents weren't going to let me go back to Hogwarts...I don't know why, or how, but they planned to do it. I didn't want to stick around and let that happen...you know?"  
  
"So you came here. I'm glad."  
  
"Actually I spent the night between two garbage cans and then on a park bench. James found me there about an hour ago and forced me to come here."  
  
"Why did he have to force you?"  
  
"I didn't want to impose..."  
  
"Sirius...you know it's not an imposition. We love you."  
  
"You're the only ones," he said sadly and again had to fight back his tears. Mrs. Potter pulled him into a hug and tried to cheer him up, but nothing worked.  
  
She released him after a moment and asked, "Where's James, Sirius?"  
  
"I don't know. He sent me through first and was supposed to follow...he never came."  
  
"That's not like him."  
  
Sirius nodded his agreement.  
  
"I'm going to go check on him. Did you boys leave from the Leaky Cauldron?"  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said and watched her transfiigure her pink bath robe into dress robes and apparate out.  
  
Sirius sighed and shook his head, praying James was okay. If he wasn't Sirius didn't know what he'd do with himself. He couldn't live with himself if he caused James any harm.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
What happened to James? If you care then I've done my job I guess...  
  
That chapter was shorter than I wanted it to be, but I'm happy with it. What do you think? It's not exactly the way I wanted it, and I'm not guaranteeing that I'll stick with it. I have another fic idea in my head and if this one doesn't work I plan to follow that one.  
  
Also for those of you who haven't read it, I'm working on another story at the moment called "All for You" it's an AU about Sirius taking Harry. I think it's pretty good and would like everyone out there to read it :) Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all who reviewed or simply clicked on this story! Every little bit helps, ya know?  
  
As many have already pointed out, I made an error with Regulus. In my defense my brother had my copy of OOTP and I couldn't check. Anyways, it's staying with him being older, hope that's okay, it's just that I've already worked out the plot and he just needs to be older. It's just...not feasible.  
  
Anyway, I like this chapter, I had fun writing it while I should have been working on my other fic  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
James watched his friend spin several times in the fireplace and then disappear. He then sat down on a bench near the fireplace, sighing. He didn't like seeing Sirius like that, it nearly broke his heart. He had never before seen Sirius cry and was hoping he'd never again have to. There were plenty of times when Sirius was really upset, though. Each of those times James thought that if he was in Sirius's shoes he'd bawl his eyes out, but he never did. The fact that he had cried that night made James realize how alone Sirius must have been feeling out there. James was determined to make him feel less alone from that point on.  
  
He sat on the bench trying to think of the best way to cheer Sirius up, but couldn't think of anything that would work. He decided all he really needed was to be there for his friend, and maybe convince his parents to let Sirius live at their house permanently. Sirius needed a home and since his own was out of the question, he needed somewhere stable. Getting up off the bench James stretched and looked around at the few late night customers left in the pub. He was ready to leave when he caught a glimpse of familiar deep red hair.  
  
"Lily!" he called. She was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the bar. He arrogantly walked up to her and took a seat across from her. "Hi!"  
  
She simply glared at him.  
  
James wasn't the least bit affronted by this. "What are you doing here so late?"  
  
Again he received nothing but a glare. This time James was beginning to loose a little of his arrogance.  
  
"Look, Lily, I know I haven't always come across as the nicest guy...but I've changed. Really."  
  
"How so?" She asked stiffly.  
  
James didn't really know what to say, as he, of course, hadn't changed at all. He used the only thing he could think of and replied, "Well, you know Sirius? He just ran away from home because his parents weren't going to let him go back to school this year. Still not sure what they were planning on doing with him, but he wasn't about to stick around and find out. So he ran away and slept on the streets last night and most of tonight until I came and found him...now he's at my house."  
  
"Well, that's very kind of you James, but do you really think he would appreciate that you just told me all that? I'm quite sure he wouldn't like that too much."  
  
James mouth dropped open. She was right of course.  
  
"See James, you still are just as selfish and full of yourself as I always thought you were. Maybe once you do something completely selflessly I'll give you a chance. As of right now you still are a selfish bastard. Now will you please leave me alone?"  
  
Although James knew she was right that he shouldn't have told her that, he wasn't about to except her calling him selfish. "I admit, I shouldn't have told you all that, but I think going and finding my best friend, risking getting severely grounded and all that, constitutes me not being a selfish bastard! Sirius could have died on the streets or been mugged, but I didn't let him. I just saved my best friend."  
  
"Would you have saved him if he wasn't your best friend?" Lily asked curiously.  
  
James opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He thought for a moment and then said, "If he hadn't been my best friend I wouldn't have known he was in trouble." He then sat back with a cocky grin, thinking he had just weaseled his way out of that question.  
  
"That means no. You wouldn't have helped him if he wasn't your best friend. This confirms that you are the person I thought you were. Now will you please leave me ALONE!" "Lily, come on..."  
  
"Is there a problem here?" boomed the voice of a tall man wearing a dark cloak. James thought this was rather silly as it was sweltering outside, but he kept his mouth shut.  
  
"No, sir, no problem at all."  
  
"Actually," Lily said with a smirk. "This riff-raff is refusing to leave me alone."  
  
The tall man grabbed James by the collar and pulled him out of the booth. Lily suddenly looked horrified. She had thought the man had simply been joking. She stood and watched as James was pulled right out of the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
"James-" she called as the door shut behind them. She climbed out of the booth and ran to the door. James and the man were already out of sight.  
  
"Way to go Lily," she moaned to herself and then ran to the counter where old Tom Sr was nearly asleep against the wall.  
  
"Tom!" she shouted.  
  
He snapped awake grumpily, "Whadya want?" "I " Lily started when another woman approached.  
  
"Have any of you seen my son? James Potter. He's about 16, glasses, messy black hair?"  
  
'James's mom!' Lily thought frantically to herself. "I did, he was just talking to me and this man came and pulled him outside. I was just trying to tell Tom."  
  
"Oh the trouble that boy can get himself into. Did you see where they went?"  
  
"I just saw them go out the door, when I got there I saw no sign of him...oh this is all my fault."  
  
"Of course not dear, James has a knack for getting himself into messes like these."  
  
"No...it is. James was er annoying me and the man came over and asked if there was a problem...and I said there was!"  
  
"Don't worry dear, a man wouldn't take a boy away just because a girl said there was a problem. He was probably after James to begin with. A lot of people out there don't like us Potter's. But there's no time to talk about this now. I need you to do me a favor. Go to my house, 'The Potter Place', Sirius will be right there in the living room. Tell him to go wake James's father and explain to the two of them what's happened."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"And whatever you do, don't let Sirius out of the house. Whoever's after James would probably love to get their hands on Sirius as well."  
  
Lily nodded and watched Mrs. Potter speed out of the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
She let out a small whine and then ran to the fireplace through in a fistful of floo powder and called, "The Potter Place!" In moments she found herself stepping into a cozy living room, face to face with a very miserable Sirius Black.  
  
"Lily?!"  
  
"Yeah, it's me..."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"James is in trouble Mrs. Potter told me to come here and have you wake up James's father. I'll tell you the rest after that."  
  
"Is James okay?" Sirius asked frantically.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Sirius nodded solemnly and then raced up the stairs. He pulled open the door to Mr. And Mrs. Potter's bedroom and ran to the bed. He began roughly shaking Mr. Potter until he finally rolled over and sat up.  
  
"Sirius, what in Merlin's name are you doing here? In the middle of the night? Waking me up?" He said in an irritated voice.  
  
"I'll explain later. Right now I need you to come downstairs with me James is in trouble."  
  
"Where's Meg?" He asked, referring to Mrs. Potter.  
  
"She's looking for James."  
  
"Where's James?!" He asked quickly.  
  
Sirius shrugged violently. "Come on! Lily Evans is downstairs. She knows more than I do. She's the one who told me to wake you up."  
  
Mr. Potter climbed quickly out of his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. He made to walk out of the room but Sirius stopped him. "There's a girl downstairs Jack," Sirius said and threw him the robe that was hanging by the door. Mr. Potter couldn't help but smirk at Sirius. He could be such a gentleman when he wanted to.  
  
Mr. Potter threw on his robe and hurried down the stairs, Sirius at his heels. Lily was sitting anxiously on the couch. She stood when they reached the living room.  
  
"I'm Jack Potter, James's dad," he said holding out his hand. Lily took it and shook it gently.  
  
"Lily Evans," she muttered.  
  
"Now can you please tell me what's going on?"  
  
"I was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron and James came over to talk to me...I don't really like James. I asked him to leave me alone and then this guy came over and asked if there was a problem. I said there was a problem...but I honestly didn't mean it. Anyway, the man grabbed him and dragged him out of the bar. I couldn't see where they went. And then Mrs. Potter arrived, I told her what happened and she went after them. She told me to come here and get you though. I think she wants you to go help."  
  
"And that's just what I'll do but first I want you to describe this man to me."  
  
"I can't really. He was covered head to toe in black robes. I didn't even see his face." "Shit!" Mr. Potter exclaimed. He got ready to apparate out, but then turned back to Sirius and Lily. "I want you two to stay right here."  
  
They both nodded solemnly and then watched as he apparated out of the living room.  
  
Sirius threw himself back against the couch. "This is all my bloody fault."  
  
"Your fault? How is it your fault. I was the one who said there was a problem. I feel so bad."  
  
"Think about it Lily. Who would kidnap a person just because there was 'a problem'? Whoever took him was probably already after him...and it was probably because of me."  
  
"James told me what happened to you...I'm really sorry."  
  
"He told you?! He was trying to impress you again. Didn't work did it?"  
  
"No I figured you wouldn't want him telling the world about your problems."  
  
"That's right...but I don't mind him telling you. He likes you a lot Lily. You should give him a chance, he's a really great guy. I don't know anyone nicer."  
  
"Is nice turning Snape upside down so his underwear show?" "Snape's a git. He deserves everything he gets.  
  
"I don't think anybody deserves that."  
  
"You don't see him the way we do. But...I don't want to talk about this...James is in trouble, and if it weren't for me he'd be up in his bed sleeping right now."  
  
Lily gave him a half smile and they sat in silence on the couch, waiting anxiously for any word on how James or his parents were doing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jack Potter had just apparated to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron and was walking up and down the road, looking down all the side alley's. He saw no sign of his son but as he looked down the eighth or so alley he heard a pop and suddenly his wife appeared.  
  
"Meg!" he called. She turned and ran to him.  
  
"I can't find him Jack...or any trace of him."  
  
"We'll find him, dear, don't worry. It'll be okay." He pulled her into a quick hug and then said, "I think we should split up. You keep looking down that way...I'll look this way. If you find anything, summon my watch or something. It'll guide me to you."  
  
Megan Potter nodded and took off at a jog in the direction her husband had pointed her.  
  
She went on for what seemed like hours but was only about five blocks and found nothing. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath when she heard screaming. It sounded like a boys scream of pain.  
  
Again she took off at a fast jog until she reached the source of the screaming. She peered cautiously down the dark alley and saw her son rolling on the ground in pain. Three men in black robes stood above him, laughing hysterically. Megan remembered what her husband had said and hurriedly summoned his watch. It took a few minutes but soon her husband was at her side.  
  
There were tears running down Megan's face as she watched her son writhing in pain. Jack wiped them away with his thumb and whispered, "You stun the one on the right. I'll get the one on the left and then we'll both take out the one in the middle."  
  
They both pointed there wands and muttered the incantation. The two on the ends dropped like flies and the one in the middle turned to see the source. Since his wand was still on James he couldn't react quickly enough and watched as another stunning curse came straight at him. He landed on top of James who tried to push him off, but was too weak from being under the cruciatus curse.  
  
He propped himself up enough to see his parents running down the alley towards him. His father through the middle man off of his son and his mother scooped him up in her arms. "Are you okay Jamesie?"  
  
"It hurts," James said hoarsely. "Lily-?"  
  
"She's fine dear. She's at our house with Sirius."  
  
James nodded. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"It's okay James. We're glad you helped Sirius."  
  
"Meg, take him home. I'll deal with these three."  
  
"Regulus..." James mumbled, pointing at the person Megan had stunned.  
  
"That's Regulus?!" Jack asked, quite shocked. James nodded and leaned into his mother.  
  
"I had a feeling he was part of that crew."  
  
James tried to keep his eyes open and asked, "What crew?"  
  
"Don't worry about it James. Your mother's going to take you home...I'll deal with this. I should be home in an hour or so."  
  
"Can you stand dear?" Mrs. Potter asked her son.  
  
"I don't know," James mumbled and let his mother help him to his feet. Without her support he'd be flat on his face, but she had him there long enough to apparate the two of them back to the Potter Place.  
  
James collapsed on the floor of the living room the moment they appeared there.  
  
Mrs. Potter knelt beside him and Sirius ran to his other side.  
  
"What happened? James are you okay?"  
  
"I'll be fine, Sirius. Don't worry about me."  
  
"Oh...this is all my fault...what happened?"  
  
"I'll tell you later," he mumbled, looking over at Lily with a hurt look in his eyes. Sirius didn't notice the look. He grabbed James's hand and pulled him into a sitting position and then threw his arms around him. James laughed lightly and hugged back.  
  
"I'm so, so, sorry James."  
  
"Sirius it's not your fault. I'll tell you about everything later. Just trust me, it's not your fault. It's my own fault."  
  
"Actually it's none of your faults, your's either Lily," Mrs. Potter declared. "James, you were just attacked by deatheaters. I know you've all heard of Lord Voldemort and his plans. Well, he's been gaining followers, called deatheaters. That was one of the many attacks that I imagine will soon become frequent in our world. You all need to be much more careful with where you go and what you do."  
  
"Did you see who the deatheaters were?" Sirius asked James.  
  
"No, I didn't see them...but I recognized one of the voices." He hugged his friend to him tighter.  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
James didn't know if he should tell him or not, but figured Sirius would get it out of him eventually. "Regulus."  
  
Sirius dropped his hold on James and tried to pull away, but James wouldn't let him. Sirius instead buried his head in James's shoulder and for the second time that day started crying.  
  
"I'm so sorry! My goddamn family they're evil! I'm sorry James."  
  
"Sirius, it's not your fault. You're different from all of them. You may as well not be a member of that family because you're nothing like them," James said, rubbing his friends back gently.  
  
"You all need to rest now. Sirius, you take the room next to James. That is now YOUR room, permanently, got it?"  
  
Sirius just shook his head in James's shoulder.  
  
"Lily, where are you staying?"  
  
"At the Leaky Cauldron."  
  
"Where are your parents?"  
  
"Well ummm, see my parents are muggles. And this summer, we didn't really get along so well. So I sort of..."  
  
"Ran away?" This came from James who was looking at her almost sympathetically. She nodded.  
  
"Well, considering that you are young, pretty, and muggle born, the Leaky Cauldron is not a safe place for you to stay. You saw what just happened to James and he comes from a fairly long line of pure bloods. You'll stay here."  
  
"I no I couldn't. After all that I've done already. Thank you, but no."  
  
"I'm not allowing you to go back to the Leaky Cauldron. Either I'll take you home, after you get some sleep, or you'll stay here."  
  
"Alright...thank you."  
  
"Follow me I'll show you to where you'll be staying, and where the boys will be sleeping. Sirius, help James to bed, okay dear?"  
  
"Yes, Meg."  
  
Sirius pulled away from James when they were alone in the room.  
  
"So what happened?" he said with a small sniffle.  
  
James sighed. "Let's go up to my room. I'll tell you all about it there."  
  
Sirius nodded and stood up. He pulled James to his feet and then helped him hobble up the stairs.  
  
As they reached the landing of the upstairs hall they saw the door to the bathroom swing open. Out came Lily Evans wearing baggy flannel pants and a t-shirt that was a few sizes too big fo her.  
  
"Those are mine," James said matter-of-factly.  
  
Lily was startled at the appearance of the boys. She quickly recovered and said, "You're mom got them for me."  
  
"As long as you didn't dig through my room yourself," James joked tiredly.  
  
She smiled uncertainly and said, "Goodnight."  
  
Sirius and James watched her walk down the hall to her room and close the door. James then let out a hearty sigh and leaned harder against Sirius.  
  
"You okay, James?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go." Sirius helped him the rest of the way to his room and set him on his bed. They turned and looked at the clock.  
  
"Five o'clock!" James exclaimed. "Damn."  
  
"I know. I'm wiped...Do you want to talk about it now or later?"  
  
"Now's good, the wounds are still fresh."  
  
"The Lily part or the part with my brother?"  
  
"Lily..." James mumbled, a dreary look taking over his face.  
  
"What did she say?"  
  
"After you left I took a quick glance around the Leaky Cauldron and saw her sitting all alone...looking gorgeous as usual. So I walked over and started making friendly conversation, but as usual she...blew me off. And I started pleading with her..making an even bigger ass of myself. I told her things I shouldn't have...about you."  
  
"I know she told me...it's cool, keep going."  
  
"Well I was pleading some more and this guy comes over and asks if there's a problem-"  
  
"Was that Regulus?"  
  
"No, we met up with him later...Anyway, I said no and then Lily said, "This riff-raff is refusing to leave me alone."! Riff-raff?!?!"  
  
"Yeah, that was cold...is that when they took you?"  
  
James nodded and shuddered. "They dragged me out and then put me under petrificus totalus and took me to an alley quite away from the Leaky Cauldron. That's where Regulus was, as well as some other guy. Regulus asked me a bunch of questions about you, but I told him I hadn't seen you since we left Hogwarts."  
  
"Did he believe that? Was that the reason they took you?" Sirius asked frantically.  
  
James reached out and put a flimsy hand on his friend's shoulder. "No, Sirius, it had nothing to do with you. I think it was just coincidence, and he seemed to believe me. I put on a good show asking why he didn't know where you were and all. He completely bought it," James laughed.  
  
"It's not funny Prongs."  
  
"It was kind of funny."  
  
"You could have died."  
  
"But I didn't! I'm fine, look at me!"  
  
"You couldn't walk out of the living room, you're not fine."  
  
"Why are you being so serious about this?"  
  
"Because it's all my fault!"  
  
"No it's not, it's my own fault, and I'm sure they're going to tell me that shortly. You didn't ask me to go find you, you didn't even tell me you had left your house...I did everything on my own free will, including talking to Lily...That was a bad idea."  
  
"Deep down I think she likes you."  
  
"I truly doubt that...but I don't know why she hates me so much."  
  
"She doesn't hate you! If she did, she probably wouldn't have told your mom what happened."  
  
James just shrugged. "She just didn't want to have a guilty conscience. I wonder what happened with her and her parents, and why would she be sitting in the Leaky Cauldron at that time of the night?"  
  
"Ask her," Sirius said with a shrug.  
  
"She probably wouldn't answer," James said bitterly.  
  
"Prongs...maybe you just need to get over her."  
  
"That'll be easy with her staying here all the rest of the summer."  
  
"Do you really think she will? She didn't sound like she wanted to."  
  
"My mom will convince her...you know how she is."  
  
"Oh? How's that?" Came a voice from the doorway. They both looked over and saw Mrs. Potter standing there.  
  
"How much did you hear?"  
  
"Not much. James, your father and I need to talk to you. Sirius, I want you to go to bed. You've had a long couple of days." "Did something happen?" Sirius asked.  
  
Mrs. Potter's gaze shifted slightly but she said, "Everything's fine. We just need to talk to James about what happened this evening. He usually says different things when you're around then when it's just us."  
  
Sirius looked at her suspiciously but got up and left anyways. "Night James...thanks."  
  
"No prob Padfoot...sleep tight."  
  
James turned to his mother. "Where's Dad?"  
  
"He'll be up in a minute. I'll tell you the basics before he gets up here though. When your father was rounding up the three deatheaters the spell wore off one of them...Regulus. The other two are in ministry custody now, but your father's worried. We're almost positive that he's going to come after Sirius."  
  
James gasped slightly and looked at his mother speechless. Before he had a chance to let words take over there was a crash outside the door.  
  
Mrs. Potter walked briskly over and swung the door open. Sirius was now sprawled on the floor with a small table on top of him. He had heard it all, and he wasn't happy about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That's all for now. I hope you liked it and please review.  
  
For All for You fans...I'm kinda stuck at a boring part and I'm having trouble pushing through, but it should be out within the week 


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